There are a lot of things to like about New York Rangers’ forward Wojtek Wolski. The 6’3″ 25-year old was a first round pick of the Colorado Avalanche in 2004 and has played more than 400 games at the NHL level in a young career that took him first to Phoenix and then the Big Apple. In 2009-10, the year the Coyotes acquired him, Wolski put up career highs – 23 goals, 42 assists and 65 total points. There aren’t a lot of big young wingers with the ability to put up those kinds of numbers available at the NHL trade deadline, and even fewer available cheaply.

However, like Laocoön – who knew better than to trust those scheming Greeks, even when they left a giant wooden horse at his gate – we might wonder what, beyond the inherent goodness of Glen Sather, would prompt the Rangers to offer up such a gifted young scorer. There are a few different answers to that, but we’ll start with what Chris Botta wrote for the New York Times‘ hockey blog (h/t Lyle Richardson):

Wojtek Wolski struggled in three games this month after missing 30 with a groin and hernia issues. In Wolski’s last game, Jan. 15 at Montreal, he was minus-3 in just 6 minutes 20 seconds of playing time. Wolski and [Erik] Christensen are currently the Rangers’ 13th and 14th forwards – not necessarily in that order…

The trade deadline is Feb. 27. Although Wolski and Christensen would not bring back much in a trade – Wolski makes $3.5 million this year – the quantity and quality at the position are assets for General Manager Glen Sather. Avery could also be moved for a midround draft pick.

While it isn’t fair to judge a player’s 400-game career by the last seven minutes he played, I don’t think that’s what Botta’s doing here. Rather, he’s highlighting an extreme example to make a point about a player. Wolski has struggled as a Ranger – in 46 games since coming over from the Coyotes, he’s scored six times and added 16 assists. Combine that lack of offense with Wolski’s two-way struggles and a perceived lack of effort (McKeen’s Hockey describes Wolski as “selectively courageous,” which fits with what others have said) and the team’s willingness to ship Wolski away makes some sense.

The contract details fill in the rest of the story. Botta and the Times have the contract number wrong – Wolski actually earns $4.0 million this year in actual money and has a $3.8 million cap hit – but given that it’s an expiring deal that isn’t a major issue. No, the real issue is Wolski’s RFA status. When a player in that position earns a ton of money, it also pumps up the minimum offer required to qualify the player; in Wolski’s case a team hoping to retain his rights this off-season must qualify him for $4.0 million (the Oilers face a similar issue with Cam Barker; because of his current pricey contract, retaining his rights will cost north of $2.0 million). It’s not an issue if Wolski’s brilliant or terrible, but if he’s useful – say useful enough that his new team wants to re-sign him for $2.0 million per year – the team with his rights needs to decide if they’ll overpay him or allow him to become an unrestricted free agent.

Weighed against the last two paragraphs is the fact that Wolski’s a guy who isn’t terribly far away from his career pace. His shooting percentage is down – 6.7% as a Ranger, when he’s a career 10.8% shooter, but most of his problems are ice-time related. Last year, Wolski scored 2.04 PTS/60 at even-strength, and this year he’s scoring 1.99 PTS/60, despite the fact that is goal-scoring is likely to rebound. Just for perspective, the Oilers only have three skaters – Eberle, Smyth and Nugent-Hopkins – scoring at a pace of 2.00 PTS/60 at even-strength.

I like Wolski a lot. I think he’s the kind of guy that could really rebound if placed in a good situation. If the Oilers were to trade Ales Hemsky at the deadline, Wolski’s the kind of guy I’d look at to replace some of his offense on the cheap. With all of that said, I see no reason why a team with a belief in Wolski would trade for him now, pay a bunch of money, and then almost certainly let him slide into unrestricted free agency in the summer. Wolski’s a guy who will be worth targeting in the summer once the Rangers fail to qualify him, but right now there’s not a lot of point in picking him up.

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